1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a constructional piece system, and in particular, to two or three dimensional objects that can be constructed or assembled from a plurality of pieces. Each piece includes either at least one aperture, or at least one deformable section, or at least one aperture together with at least one deformable section. The deformable sections can be deformed to insert the deformable section through an aperture in another piece, the deformable section returning to its original shape after insertion through the aperture, to form a connection between the two pieces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Constructional toys and objects are popular among both children and adults. Such constructional objects can include three-dimensional self-standing structures and objects that are assembled by interconnecting a variety of pieces.
Examples of prior three-dimensional structures that are assembled from pieces are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,278,327 (Magnus et al.), 3,701,214 (Sakamoto) and 5,251,900 (Gallant). The pieces used to assemble these structures are interconnected by means of dovetail joints. However, the use of dovetail joints mean that these structures tend to be bulky and not flexible, and therefore do not allow the user to assemble a wide variety of three-dimensional structures and sometimes make them difficult to move around, especially by children.
Another example of a prior constructional object assembled from pieces is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,712,200 (Dearling), in which each piece or element 10 has a tongue 18 formed by creating notches 12 at a neck 14, and a cross-shaped aperture 20 having a longitudinal slot 22 and a shorter transverse slot 24. To join the two elements 10 and 10a, the tongue 18a of element 10a is first inserted through the longitudinal slot 22 until the neck 14a reaches the opening of transverse slot 24, after which the neck 14a is twisted until it is seated in transverse slot 24. Unfortunately, the cross-shaped aperture limits the angles at which the piece 10a can be connected, thereby limiting the variety of structures or objects that can be assembled from the pieces.
Another problem associated with certain prior constructional systems is that the connections are not sufficiently stable to permit an assembled structure to be retained in a permanent state and to be moved from and to different locations. An example is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,185 (Ban).
Thus, there remains a need for a plurality of interconnecting pieces that can provide stable connections for the assembled object, which have enough flexibility and variety so that they can be assembled into a wide variety of different three-dimensional objects, and which objects are light-weight and can be moved around easily.